Do Your Retirement Hobbies Affect family life?
Were you to ask this question to a group of people, you will receive as many different responses on how their retirement hobbies affect their family life. You will always find those who will admit that they don’t have any hobbies. They most likely do, but they don’t call it that. A hobby is, by definition, an activity or interest that is undertaken outside of one’s normal occupation and done for enjoyment. This fits in perfectly for when you are in retirement. Every interest you have will fall under the heading of a hobby.
The key to success in any activity or interest, whether it be stamp collecting, chat rooms, train or plane spotting, watching football, scrapbooking, playing golf, reading, writing, painting, ballroom dancing, yard work, crafts, auto mechanics, music, looking for garage sales, sewing, fishing, cooking, baking, boating, furniture refinishing, or a host of other interests, is by maintaining a balance between them and your family. Your family life and extracurricular interests must coexist together and not create waves. They must be in harmony.
As everything else in life, a nice thing turns sour when it is overdone. Everybody ought to have a hobby or specific interest that they may pursue themselves. This is even more so when it comes to retirees who are still not sure what to do during their golden years.
Do retirement hobbies affect family
Self-indulgence can be beneficial in moderation. It’s helpful to take time away from your daily routine to focus on a unique hobby or interest. If all you do in life is go to work, school, or even if you are taking it easy since you’re retired, you most probably qualify to be a pain in the butt. The reason is that you don’t have a safety valve from which you let off your excess steam. This safety valve comes in the form of a hobby.
The above holds whoever in your family unit you might be. You can be a grandad, grandma, father, mother, brother, sister…and the list goes on. It doesn’t matter as it’s almost imperative you indulge in something to keep you occupied, and at the same time, happy and entertained.
Retired people are at the top of the list. They must have a genuine activity to keep them going. Once these people who have worked for almost all their life stop working, they could crumble and die. This is one terrible shame as we all love them to pieces and want them to enjoy their retirement for as long as possible.
The above is all well and good, but you can overdo things and end up in trouble.
Burying yourself in something can prolong unhappiness if it gives the impression to others that all you care about or want to do is play loud music all day.
Could depression be rearing its ugly head
This could be a sign of depression and the person would need help to pull out of this nasty situation.
There are many ways that people handle depression. Some people sleep round the clock. Some people desire to do nothing else except read all the time. Others will spend many hours creating a ‘masterpiece’ to divert attention from the underlying source of their annoyance.
Hobbies should serve as a healthy release rather than a reason to put off dealing with pressing difficulties.
As wonderful as hobbies are, and have helped many retirees endure their retirement, these can become quite pricey. Yes, hobbies like photography, cars, and even traveling. But, these interests pile up. You begin by attempting to create a budget for the regular add-on to your camera and put aside a certain amount a month. It goes well at first, but then your interest takes you from an inexpensive filter to a carrying case, to a tripod, to a powerful lens…and it goes on and on. Also factor in that you’ve already taken photos of everything in the house, you need to go outdoors. You’ll get in your car and go somewhere, not sure where, as long as it’s somewhere different. In the meantime, you’re wearing out your car and it is also consuming fuel, which is another expense.
Once you start doing these things, you could end up at a crossroads where you have to choose between buying food or going for the latest in zoom lenses.
It’s time to weigh out if your pastime is costing more money or time to the family than you can or should be spending on it, or if it’s doing more harm than good. It’s time to discover something you enjoy doing if you aren’t already, for the good of both you and your family.
